← 2.8.9 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 8: Mantharā turns Kaikeyī’s mind · 2.8.11 →
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.8.10
Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 8: Mantharā turns Kaikeyī’s mind. Kaikeyī defends Rāma, Mantharā argues that his descendants will exclude Bharata’s line and urges Rāma’s exile
In the sequence: Kaikeyī defends Rāma: he is virtuous, the eldest, and entitled to succeed; he will protect his brothers → she expects Bharata to inherit in time and says Rāma serves her even more attentively than he serves Kausalyā
2.8.10
sā tvam abhyudaye prāpte vartamāne ca manthare
bhaviṣyati ca kalyāṇe kimarthaṃ paritapyase
kausalyāto 'tiriktaṃ ca sa tu śuśrūṣate hi mām
When such prosperity has arrived and is at hand, O Mantharā, and good fortune is yet to come, why do you torment yourself? Indeed, he attends upon me even more than upon Kausalyā.”
Words: sā tvam — you who are such; abhyudaye — prosperity, rise; prāpte — having arrived; vartamāne ca — and being present, ongoing; manthare — O Mantharā; bhaviṣyati ca — and (that which) is to come; kalyāṇe — good fortune, blessing; kimarthaṃ — why, for what; paritapyase — do you torment yourself; kausalyāto 'tiriktaṃ — more than Kausalyā; ca — and; sa tu — he indeed; śuśrūṣate — serves, is attentive; hi — for; mām — me
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.